WASHINGTON: Expressing regret over the Indian Ambassador to Washington being pulled out of an airport security line and patted down, the US today promised to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

The Obama administration has regretted the humiliating incident that took place on December 4 at the Jackson-Evers International Airport where sari-clad Meera Shankar was about to board a flight to Baltimore after attending the Mississippi State University's programme.

"We obviously are concerned about it. We will be looking into it and trying to determine both what happened and what we could do to prevent such incidents in the future," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department in joint press conference with her Nigerian counterpart.

According to the Indian Embassy here, the State Department has reached out to Shankar and regretted about the incident.

"The US State Department has reached out to the Ambassador and has regretted what all had happened. The Embassy is in touch with the State Department on this issue," Indian Embassy spokesman Virander Paul said.

Paul confirmed that the Ambassador was subjected to the pat down security check last week at the Jackson-Evers International Airport.

Earlier, State Department spokesman P J Crowley said: "It is our understanding the (Indian) Ambassador was pulled out for secondary screening, and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) has indicated they're prepared to talk about this."

Crowley said there are guidelines that have been published on diplomats.

"They are subject to basic security. So everyone at the airport goes through a basic screening," he said, adding from a TSA standpoint they followed their normal procedures.

"It is the responsibility of the Transportation Security Administration to assess each passenger and then work each passenger through security based on what they see," he said, adding that as to the rationale that TSA used for this, he will let them explain it.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has called the pat-down of Shankar as "unacceptable" and said the matter would be taken up with the American government.

European Import Has Cars Spinning. Heads, Too.

Mary F. Calvert for The New York Times

Roundabouts (this one is Annapolis, Md.) are increasingly common, if not initially popular, in the United States.

By ANDREW KEH

Published: November 18, 2010

Traffic is going in circles. Armed with mounting data showing that roundabouts are safer, cheaper to maintain and friendlier to the environment, transportation experts around the country are persuading communities to replace traditional intersections with them.

Mary F. Calvert for The New York Times

Appearances notwithstanding, roundabouts, such as the one in Mt. Rainier, Md., are not the same thing as rotaries or traffic circles, experts say.

There’s just one problem: Americans don’t know how to navigate them.

“There’s a lot of what I call irrational opposition,” said Eugene R. Russell Sr., a civil engineering professor atKansas State University and chairman of a national task force on roundabouts, sounding mildly exasperated in a telephone interview. “People don’t understand. They just don’t understand roundabouts.”

But many are being forced to learn, 25 years after Clark Griswold captured the public’s unease with roundabouts in “European Vacation,”spending a full day circumnavigating London’s famous Lambeth Bridge roundabout — “There’s Big Ben, kids! Parliament!” — unable to escape its inner lane.

The Department of Transportation does not keep statistics on roundabouts, but experts agree that they are proliferating rapidly. They point to Wisconsin, which has built about 100 roundabouts since 2004, and plans to build 52 more in the 2011 construction season alone. Maryland is closing in on 200. Kansas has nearly 100.

All told, there are about 2,000 roundabouts in this country, most built in the last decade, according to Edward Myers, a senior principal at Kittelson & Associates, a transportation engineering and planning firm.

That does not mean they are usually well received.

For instance, residents of Quentin, Pa., near Harrisburg, were distraught to learn last month that a stoplight intersection in town might be turned into a roundabout.

“I just foresee a lot of accidents,” said John Horstick, 61, who owns the Quentin Haus, a nearby restaurant. A petition circulated at the restaurant garnered hundreds of signatures in a matter of days.

Kitty Schaeffer, 81, said she was worried about large trucks navigating the circle. “Let’s just have a light there, and when the light changes, you just go,” she said.

Public opposition could squelch the proposal.

Rodney Gernert, 39, was not persuaded by the success of roundabouts in countries like France, which has more than 30,000.

“Just because something works in one culture, doesn’t mean it’s going to work in another culture,” said Mr. Gernert, who teaches about world cultures at nearby Cedar Crest High School. “In our country, we don’t hang animals in our storefronts like other cultures. Food is different. Transportation, patience, people, their temperaments, are different from country to country.”

Modern roundabouts are ring-shaped intersections through which traffic flows in a counterclockwise pattern. Cars entering a roundabout must yield to those already inside.

They first appeared in the United States in the early 1990s, according to engineers, who emphasize that roundabouts are not the same as traffic circles or rotaries, like Columbus Circle in New York or Dupont Circle in Washington. Traffic circles usually operate at higher speeds, and some have traffic signals within their rings.

The many traffic circles in New Jersey seem to have tainted perceptions of roundabouts for millions of Americans east of the Mississippi River.

“People say, ‘Hey, you ought to drive in some of those terrible monstrosities in New Jersey before you build them here,’ ” said Mr. Russell, of the roundabout task force. “Now, I don’t disagree that they are monstrosities. But they also aren’t roundabouts.”

Roundabouts are deemed safer than traditional intersections because their design precludes most high-risk situations. “You virtually eliminate right-angle crashes and head-on collisions, and the collisions that do occur tend to be much less severe,” said Anne McCartt, a senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Numerous studies have also found that replacing lights and stop signs with roundabouts can reduce harmful emissions by more than 30 percent because there is less starting and stopping.

Despite these benefits, a circuitous pattern still seems to emerge whenever a community is faced with the specter of a roundabout. Fear and suspicion are manifested in petitions and tense town meetings — and over time they generally mellow into something resembling approval, acceptance or, just as desirable in the world of transportation engineering, apathy.

Three years ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published a study titled “Long-Term Trends in Public Opinion Following Construction of Roundabouts.” After interviewing 1,802 drivers in six communities, the researchers reported that, on average, only 34 percent had supported roundabouts in their communities before construction. But shortly after the roundabouts were in place, the number rose to 57 percent. After a year or more, the number increased to 69 percent.

In September 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation started from the beginning with plans for a roundabout in Mosinee. The agency held a public information meeting to discuss the possibility of installing one near the bridge that serves as the primary artery into the town’s commercial district.

The response from the residents was tepid. Many residents, particularly older ones, were perturbed by the change.

“People gossiped, they speculated, they complained — ‘Why do we need it? This is ridiculous!’ ” said Michelle Ringhoffer, 41, the owner of a nearby bookstore. “But once it was in, they said, ‘Oh, that wasn’t so bad.’ ”

The roundabout opened last month, with only a few hiccups.

“People were constantly stopping, and the people that weren’t supposed to stop were trying to wave you in,” Ms. Ringhoffer said.

Other drivers kept traffic flowing, but not always in the right direction.

“The other day I saw someone going the wrong way in it,” said Steven Grim, 56, a longtime resident. “The wife and I looked at each other like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ ”

Pass the sea-sick pills: The terrifying moment a cruise ship was slammed by giant Antarctic waves

An Antarctic cruise ship with 88 American passengers and 77 crew members aboard sustained damage after being battered by brutal waves.

On Tuesday the Clelia II declared an emergency, reporting it had suffered engine damage amid heavy seas and 55 mph winds when it was north east of the South Shetland Islands on its way towards its destination in Argentina.

But the crew of the 2420-ton ship managed to overcome the damage and was heading safely back to its scheduled port at four knots yesterday, the vessel's operator said.

Huge waves caused a broken bridge window and some electrical malfunctions that temporarily knocked out some communications and affected engine performance on the Clelia II

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators issued a statement saying the wave that hit the Clelia II caused a broken bridge window and some electrical malfunctions that temporarily knocked out some communications and affected engine performance.

One crew member sustained minor injuries as the ship, carrying 88 passengers and 77 crew, was rocked by the Antarctic swells

Despite the fierce bombardment the cruise ship received, there were almost no casualties to report.

The tour operator said: 'There are no injuries to passengers, although one member of the crew sustained minor injuries.'

The ship was travelling from the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica to Ushuaia in Argentina when it ran into trouble

Another ship, the National Geographic Explorer, accompanied the Clelia II for much of the day and helped in restoring its communications, according to the association statement.

The damaged vessel resumed its journey alone across the Drake Passage when the repairs were complete.

The ship had 88 passengers, all from the United States, and 77 crew: 44 from the Philippines and the rest from Greece, Bulgaria, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, France, Denmark, Hungary, Indonesia, Ukraine, Romania, Britain and the United States.

It was heading for the port of Ushuaia at the extreme south of Argentina at normal speed by midday Wednesday and was in no danger, the association said.

The ship set out from Ushuaia on November 30 and was scheduled to return on Wednesday.

It is now expected to join with an Argentine channel pilot Thursday evening and arrive in Ushuaia tomorrow morning.

The ship is operated by Travel Dynamics International of New York and owned by Helios Shipping of Piraeus, Greece.

A hippie was arrested after police found a lovingly decorated a two-metre cannabis plant, complete with with tinsel and twinkling lights.

The plan was to perform the same routine as any other Christmas Day: place presents under the tree and unwrap them as a group.

But when narcotics detectives in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany stumbled across his unusual Christmas tree in a drug bust, they were stunned and cuffed him.

Happy spliffmas: German police were amazed to stumble across the two-metre pot plant, complete with Christmas decorations

Officers entered the home of the 'old 68er' - a reference to a group of young students and workers who took part in radical protested across Germany in 1968 - yesterday and he 'more or less willingly' handed over 150g, or 5.3 ounces, of marijuana.

But after the police snooped around the property in Montabaur, near Koblenz, further, they found the tall pot plant.

'A hippie celebrates Christmas too... just differently,' read the police report, which was entitled 'All you need is love,' in reference to the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death.

'In response to questions by the dumbfounded officers, the hashish fan confirmed that the "tree" would be decorated further and, on Christmas, gifts would be arranged underneath according to tradition,' the report continued.

'Tis the season, it seems, in Germany.

On Tuesday Munich police detained a 21-year-old man after he had created a home-made advent calendar that, instead of chocolates, had cannabis behind each door.

Indians No. 2 in emigrating, top in sending money home

NEW DELHI: India continued to be the largest recipient of remittances in 2010, with the figure rising from $49.6 billion in 2009 to $55 billion. It was also the country with the second largest number of emigrants (those migrating abroad) after Mexico, according to the World Bank's just-released Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011.

Interestingly, even as 11.4 million people from India went abroad, 5.4 million came into the country, making India No. 10 in the list of nations attracting the most immigrants -- and No. 2 in Asia, behind only Saudi Arabia.

India and China, which received $51 billion in remittances, account for almost a quarter of the worldwide remittance flows of $440 billion in 2010, the report estimated. High-income OECD countries account for just $107 billion of the global remittance flow.

Not surprisingly, it is the developing countries that receive the bulk -- $325 billion, an increase of 6% from 2009. Middle-income countries including China, Russia, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey receive the lion's share of over $301 billion, while low-income countries including Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Nepal, Uganda and Cambodia receive just $24 billion. Bangladesh alone accounts for over $11 billion.

The true size of remittances, including unrecorded flows through formal and informal channels, is believed to be significantly larger. Interestingly, even recorded remittances in 2009 were nearly three times the amount of official foreign aid and almost as large as foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to developing countries.

The factbook estimated the total number of international migrants or people living outside their country of birth in 2010 to be 215 million persons, or 3% of the world's population, only a marginal increase over the levels recorded in 2005.

Meanwhile, the World Migration Report 2010, brought out by the International Organization for Migration said that about 57% of all migrants live in high income countries, up from 43% in 1990. Migrants now make up 10% of the population of high-income regions, up from 7.2% in 1990.

The US remains the top migrant destination country in the world, with 42.8 million migrants in 2010 compared to 34.8 million in 2000, according to the World Bank report. However, just over 2.2 million Americans live outside the US, less than 1% of the country's population. Besides the US, other top destination countries are Russia, Germany and Saudi Arabia in that order.

The US also recorded the largest outflow of remittances in 2009 -- $48 billion -- followed by Saudi Arabia with an outflow of $26 billion and Switzerland and Russia accounting for less than $20 billion of outflows each.

Many of the big destination countries are also origin countries like Germany, the UK, Ukraine, Russia and India. The top immigration countries relative to population are Qatar where migrants make up 87% of the population, Monaco (72%), the United Arab Emirates (70%), Kuwait (69%) and Andorra (64%).

The Migration Report said that for Asia too, the US was the main destination with 7.9 million Asian emigrants going to that country. Asians are the second-most numerous group of migrants in the US, next to Mexicans, with over 10 million people a 27% share of the total migrant population -- made up of nearly 2 million Chinese, 1.7 million Filipinos and 1.6 million Indians.

Interestingly, India happens to be among the most important destination for Asian migrants, second only to the US, going by the number of migrants -- 6.1 million. However, this is primarily from Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Approximately 37% of Asian migrants move to OECD countries, 43% migrate within the region and the rest migrate to other countries outside the region.

The Växjö group fronted by palindromic lead singer Ola Salo group will mark their 20th anniversary by releasing a greatest hitsalbum and embark on a farewell tour.

"After the summer tour, the band will break up. We feel that we have accomplished what we have wanted artistically and that it is now time to move on with our lives," the group said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Ark has been a very big part of our lives and will always mean a lot to us. As such, we want to make our 20th anniversary celebrations in 2011 a real farewell party," the group members added.

The tour for the new greatest hits album "Arkeology" kicks off on March 3rd, 2011 with two shows in Helsinki, Finland. The 14-date tour will pass through 13 cities in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark until April 19th.

Swedish stops on the tour include Karlstad, Uppsala, Åre, Sundsvall, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Växjö and Norrköping. Tickets for the club dates go on sale starting December 14th.

The new lead single "Breaking Up With God" will be released on January 10th, 2011 while "Arkeology" will be released on February 23, 2011. The album contains 20 tracks, including two new singles.

"In this way, we would like to pay tribute to those who helped make The Ark a phenomenon. The summer tour will be a fireworks display of hits, singalongs and bombast. See you next year!" the group members said on Wednesday.

"The greatest hits album sums up our career and our greatest hits. The spring tour will be a gift to the fans when we return to the stages we have performed on over the years to when we play these intimate and unique concerts," the group added.

The new songs "Breaking Up With God" and "The Apocalypse Is Over" were written and recorded in November this year and produced in collaboration with Peter Kvint, whom the band worked with on "In Lust We Trust."

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So much news today is dull, depressing, controversial. It's almost impossible to watch news without hearing story after story of war, terror, killing, destruction, government, corruption, etc. I come across weird and wonderful news items as I scan the worlds press that put a smile on ones face or distract one from all the doom and gloom. These are the stories that will make up "The Quirky Globe". If you have any reactions to articles please leave a comment.... it may encourage debate. Pass this site on to your friends who are also fed up with mainstream news and become a follower. Enjoy and smile.